Exhuma (2024/Well Go Blu-ray)/Invaders From Mars 4K (1952/Ignite 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray*)/Night Of The Blood Beast/Attack Of The Giant Leeches (1958/Film Masters Blu-ray)/Silent Bite (2024/Cleopatra Blu-ray*both MVD)/Strange Darling (2023/Magenta Light Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B+/X/B- & C+/B+/B+ Sound: B+/B-/B-/B+/B+ Extras: C+/B/B-/C-/C- Films: B/B/C+/C-/B

Now for more creepy, indie horror...

The suspenseful Korean supernatural thriller, Exhuma (2024) directed by Jang Jae-Hyun, is out on Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Well Go USA. The supernatural horror / mystery pushes the envelope with ghostly terror that fans of films like the Insidious and The Conjuring franchises should in particular enjoy. The film is also available on 4K UHD, which I'm sure is a superior presentation. However we are just covering the 1080p Blu-ray edition here.

Exhuma centers on a Geomancer and group of Shamans in modern day that observe a family that are being tormented by an unsettled spirit. The call to alarm happens when a family starts having nightmares featuring a dead relative. When the Geomancer and the Shamans inspect the gravesite they see that it has been tampered with. When the coffin is opened, the restless spirit is set free and targets family members as its victims. The extent of the spirit's wrath grows deeper when a second coffin is discovered and disturbed - resulting in an intense third act that delivers with an awesome looking oversized killer Samurai that has to be seen to be believed, along with other beautifully crafted special effects that deliver a unique and horrifying vision.

The film stars Kim Go-Eun, Lee Do-hyun, Yoo Hai-Jin, and Choi Min-sik to name a few.

Exhuma is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and lossless Korean Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) and lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) mixes with English subtitles. Solid colors and high production value make this an enjoyable film to take in on disc in 1080p with a lot of thought put into the execution of the piece. Some of the darker scenes are likely have more detail on 4K UHD, but it certainly is passable on the Blu-ray format with no technical issues that detract from the presentation.

Special Features: a Making of Featurette and an Original Theatrical Trailer.

Exhuma definitely surprised me as its full of great characters and original ideas that foreign horror fans shouldn't miss.

William Cameron Menzies' Invaders From Mars 4K (1952) is one of the great sci-fi/horror thrillers from the 1950s, even if it sometimes linked to 'red scare' anti-USSR/Soviet Union 'communist' propaganda films, its surreal, dreamlike visuals and vivid, memorable look and feel far exceed any of such original points. One night, young David (Jimmy Hunt) is awakened by a noise outside his open window. He goes into shock at what looks like an alien flying saucer spacecraft, but who can he tell? Is it too late to tell any adult?

Then strange things start to happen to the other people in the town and he increasingly finds himself in more and more danger. Can he think his way out of it, or is it too late?

The towering production design emphasizes his child point of view, as well as the increasing power of the invaders. Menzies, one of the greatest Production Designers of all time, does double duty here and pulls it off with ease. Its power only dimmed by time and age, it remains creepy, scary and effective, now re-powered in those ways by this remarkable restoration from original and surviving film elements. Its superior use of camera angle, production design and color is as stunning as ever and has been rarely matched. A genre classic and more, Invaders From Mars 4K proves again that the film is not only one of the greatest of the 1950s, but often of all time.

Now you can really experience it! Helena Carter, Arthur Franz and Leif Ericson lead the solid supporting cast.

The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.33 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image had the task of taking an orphan film, saving it using several sources that all had issues including the original Eastmancolor 35mm negative, three DuPont copies and a faded, later Eastmancolor print form the 1970s. The restoration team combined the best sections of each and making the film look new. Remarkably, with few flaws, this looks as good as I have ever seen the film or with its unique color.

The few other films issued in Super Cinecolor included two later Abbott & Costello films: ...Meet Captain Kidd and Jack & The Beanstalk (also both 1952,) Gog (all reviewed elsewhere on this site,) When The Redskins Rode, Sword Of Monte Cristo (first film shot for the format,) Hurricane Island and Top Banana, but the format was not as good as the three-strip Technicolor or three-strip TruColor formats and was discontinued after only being used for three years. For this film, however, the color makes it a little off and more creepy than if it were more refined and naturalistic, wide-ranging color, so it uses that to its advantage.

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is at the mercy of the surviving sound elements and a few places are a little rough (guess they could not find any prints with better sound in a few places, no matter how faded it might have been) and save those few off parts, the film sounds as good as it probably ever will.

Extras (per the press release) are really good and include:

• Restored 4K original 1953 trailer and a newly commissioned trailer 2022

• Interviews with star Jimmy Hunt, William Cameron Menzies' biographer James Curtis and recollections of Menzies' eldest granddaughter Pamela Lauesen

• Featurette with acclaimed film directors John Landis, Joe Dante, editor Mark Goldblatt, special visual effects artist and two time Oscar Winner Robert Skotak (foremost expert on Invaders From Mars), and enthusiast and film preservationist Scott MacQueen

• John Sayles' introduction at Turner Classic Movies Festival in Hollywood, April 2022

• Before/after clips of restoration: original negative and archival film elements with film restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen

• Restored segments in 2K of the Alternate International Version -- alternative ending and extended Planetarium scene

• and a Photo Gallery with original Press Book pages, behind the scenes photos from the restoration process.

Next is another double feature of two older creature features produced by Roger Corman: Night Of The Blood Beast (1959) and Attack Of The Giant Leeches (1958,) both directed by longtime journeyman Bernard Kowakski and featuring Yvette Vickers in the lead. The first has outer space aliens using a dead astronaut's body as a killer creature, with the latter simply delivering the blood-sucking underwater creatures of the title.

As cheesy as they sound, the films deliver the expected B-movie fare and little else, they can deliver unintentional howls on their own without any help (we get the Mystery Science Theater 3000 versions of both in the extras) and are ambitious for their very limited budgets, a new pleasure considering all the awful and hideously overpriced digital visual effects feature films keep badly delivering. The casts give their usual sufficient-at-best performances and these are two of the more well-known entries from their time.

This is the fourth such release on Blu-ray from Film Masters and offer both (as was the case in the previous sets) the best restorations possible under the circumstances where these films never had the best preservation or restoration, were designed to turn a quick buck and all copies originated from the original 35mm black and white camera negatives that are in who knows what kind of shape. Worth a look for serious genre fans, those (like myself) who have seen these before in poorer editions (like those used on MST3K) will be sometimes surprised at the uptick in quality. They are also treated with more respect than they ever had before.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image on Blood Beast is pretty good for its age if flawed, while the same on Leeches is a little weaker and the film has not survived as well. Blood Beast is also here in a 1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition presentation that shows more on the top and bottom of the picture (it was shot in soft matte, block style, but with basic and simple widescreen in mind) and I liked it as much as the wide presentation. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes can be rough and show their age and budget, but sound as good as they ever will. Whether they sounded any better back in the day when first recorded is hard to say, but I would say if so, it could nto have been by much if that.

Extras include a new documentary on director Bernard Kowalski; MST3K episodes of both films; 8mm silent digest version of Night of the Blood Beast in 1.33 X 1; full-length commentaries by Tom Weaver and The Weaver Players; Yvette Vickers still gallery from the private collection of Weaver; re-cut trailer of both films using restored elements; publicity slideshow of both films, courtesy of Mike Barnum; a before/after film restoration comparison of Night of the Blood Beast; and a full-color, inserted booklet with essays by Weaver. Captions are included for the features, documentary and commentaries.

Silent Bite (2024) is a new indie vampire flick from Cleopatra that sees a pack of bank robbers coming face to face with deadly vampires on Christmas Eve whilst shacking up in a hotel. The film attempts to mimic other crime heist movies like the work of Guy Ritchie by using animation to intro each character, but the style of the film isn't quick and flashy enough to make it all work together as it does in Richie's films. The acting overall is a bit stiff and the overall tone of the film is a bit numb and not lighthearted considering the goofy title and content. In short, the film takes itself a bit too seriously with a title like Silent Bite.

The film stars Simon Phillips, Luke Avoledo, Camille Blott, Sienna Star, and Kelly Schwartz to name a few and is directed by Taylor Martin.

Silent Bite is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix. The film looks fine in 1080p as it isn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece to study, but there aren't any noticeable flaws that took away from the presentation on disc.

Special Features: Trailer and an Image Slideshow.

I get the premise of what Silent Bite was going for, but the execution is a bit drab considering its promise of colorful content.

One of the wildest and best thrillers of the year is Strange Darling (2023) a horror indie that does a great job of tricking its audience from frame one and is even based on true events. Directed by J.T. Mollner and from the producers of Barbarian and Late Night With The Devil, Strange Darling was released in theaters in the summer of 2024 and is now getting its due on Blu-ray disc which will tide us over until the inevitable 4K UHD.

Strange Darling is a wild ride and best if you go into it knowing as little about it as possible. It begins with a callback to the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in its opening title sequence and is told non sequentially which helps craft a unique and insane story.

The film centers on a one night stand that spirals out of control as one of the members admits to being a serial killer. Not to spoil too much, the wild film constantly keeps you on the edge of your toes with a unique and innovative filmmaking style that is up there with some of the best thrillers from recent indie powerhouse studios A24 and Neon.

The film stars Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr., and Steven Michael Quezada.

Strange Darling is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix. The film was proudly shot on 35mm film by actor-turned-director-of-photography Giovanni Ribisi who does a good job of mimicking the 70s exploitation style that the film is emulating. The only extra is a Trailer.

Strange Darling is a unique indie effort with strong filmmaking and performances to back it up and is definitely worth checking out!

- Nicholas Sheffo (4K, Beast) and James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/